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Cistern Yard

Last Saturday night, music poured out of the Charleston Music Hall, as the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art hosted their annual Groundhog Day benefit concert. Groundhog Day, according to Halsey director Mark Sloan, is a vastly overlooked holiday that deserves a bit of appreciation and attention. Singer and guitarist, and somewhat host of the night, Bill Carson, said of the event, “”This concert is a way for the local music community to show its support for the fantastic contemporary arts programming that the Halsey Institute provides year-round, and year after year.” As the third annual benefit concert, the event helps to maintain the Halsey as a professional, entertaining and inviting art center.

Charleston City Paper

If you were to try to describe the work of Alabama-based artist Patricia Boinest Potter, you would probably find yourself gravitating toward phrases like “three-dimensional,” “mixed media,” and “inspired by nature” — descriptors, in other words, that are solid, simple, understandable. Of course, these are also terms that tell you almost nothing.

The Anniston Star

“Patterns of Place” by Anniston artist Pat Potter is a collection of abstract three-dimensional maps, based on a 100-mile stretch of northern Alabama from Little River Canyon to Mount Cheaha. The exhibit consists of six large “map tables” and 100 smaller “map insets.”

The College Today

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston kicks off 2015 with the Patricia Boinest Potter’s exhibit, Patterns of Place. The opening reception is on Friday, January 23, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will be open to the public and include refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres. The following day – Saturday, January 24 – there will be a gallery walkthrough with the artist at 2 p.m. There is also a curator-led walkthrough at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 5. The exhibit will be on view until March 7, 2015.

Charleston City Paper

In a blog post today, street artist Shepard Fairey laid out his top five moments of 2014 and lo and behold: the show he did this May at the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art was number one. The Insistent Image: Recurring Motifs in the Art of Shepard Fairey and Jasper Johns comprised not only Fairey’s prints and paintings, but also four murals and one installation in five different spots in Charleston. (Read our cover story, “Raw Power: Shepard Fairey explores empire and the American Dream this Spoleto season,” on the exhibit here.)

National Endowment for the Arts

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art may be housed in a modest suite of gallery and office space on the College of Charleston campus, but its reach far exceeds its physical footprint. With a primary focus on artists “in the margins,” as Chief Curator Mark Sloan puts it, the museum shines a spotlight on artists who, given the depth, quality, and imaginative impact of their work deserve to be much better known. As we learned when we spoke with Sloan by telephone, the Halsey deploys a number of strategies to support the artists it shows.

Cistern Yard

“I discover something new each time I step into the galleries.” Karen Ann Myers, Associate Directory of the Halsey, said. The mission of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, the Colleges’ on campus art gallery is to “provide a multidisciplinary laboratory for the production, presentation, interpretation, and dissemination of ideas by innovative visual artists from around the world.” Their latest exhibition, which opened Oct. 17, does just that featuring the work of relatively unknown Indonesian multimedia artist Jumaadi alongside one of Picassos’ lesser known collaborations Diurnes.